DRD2 C957T genotype modulates the time-on-task effect during total sleep deprivation

ABSTRACT

Total sleep deprivation (TSD) and time-on-task (TOT), especially in combination, increase cognitive instability and cause performance impairment. There are large inter-individual differences in TSD and TOT effects which, in part, have a genetic basis. Here, we show that the dopamine receptor D₂ C957T genetic polymorphism predicts the magnitude of the TOT effect on a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) during 38 h of TSD. This finding indicates that dopamine availability in the striatum, where the dopamine receptor D₂ is most prevalent, influences the TOT effect, suggesting a role for dopaminergic pathways in sustained attention deficits during sleep loss.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustained attention
• psychomotor vigilance test (PVT)
• cognitive impairment
• sleep loss
• single nucleotide polymorphism
• dopamine
• striatum

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Paul Whitney and John Hinson for their involvement in study design and procedures. This research was supported by Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs award W81XWH-16-1-0319 and W81XWH-18-1-0100.

U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command award.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs [W81XWH-16-1-0319] and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, [W81XWH-18-1-0100].